Saturday, October 23, 2010

Long ago, in a faraway land called Marriage Before Baby, there was a wifey. Each August and December, Wifey would search hither and yon for gifts for her lover. Then, in the most elaborate schemes she could ponder, she would wrap up those gifts and scheme little schemes. She would give a gift a day each day leading up to the day of his birth, or hide his Christmas gifts and devise elaborate treasure hunts for him, or make nesting gift boxes wrapped inside each other.

And then, before his 34th birthday, she and her lover moved to the land of Marriage with Babies and it was all she could muster to order two items online from her lover’s wish list, both of which, sadly, were on backorder and wouldn’t arrive until two weeks past the day of his birth. On the day her lover began his thirty and fifth year of life, she hired a pageboy to deliver a balloon arrangement to his office. It was delightful and unexpected and he was surprised. Still, when the packages arrived in the mail, she didn’t open them and wrap them up like she would have done before. Instead, she handed them over to him, saying “Here!” and knowing how much he likes to open packages, she hoped it would suffice.

But what she forgot was that October falls after August, leaving her lover the chance to either follow her minimalistic lead or to go all out and gain the advantage. Then cometh the pondering. “Will he cast a long shadow that can only be swept away come next August?” she wondered.

Either way, she comforted herself that December falls after October, so time for redemption is still afoot!